Saturday, 26 March 2016

It is not difficult to agree with what Iain Martin, editor of CapX, writes:

It is manifestly clear that the idea that the EU equals security and Brexit equals isolation (splendid or otherwise) for Britain is complete bunkum. It should be perfectly possible for the major players to cooperate against ISIS as national governments, within or outwith the European Union, and to work together closely, without the need for an ever-expanding and self-serving EU superstructure.But then the inability to see this is at root what is wrong with the EU more broadly, and the reason the UK is having its referendum at all. Even when Britain talked of leaving and tried to negotiate a distinct set of arrangements, and suggested that the federalist mantra of Jean-Claude Juncker and co is a dead end, it did not seem to produce much of a recognition of reality. Speaking as a European (who is nonetheless sceptical of the EU, which is not the same thing as Europe) my concern is that what has been constructed is transparently unfit for purpose. It is a botched bureaucracy, built on a notionally nice idea, being rendered inoperable by history. The EU open borders model and obsession with anti-democratic integration rather than trade and friendly cooperation is turning steadily into a catastrophe for European civilisation

Thursday, 24 March 2016

Yes, a Brexit vote carries all sorts of risks. Yes, Vladimir Putin will enjoy the spectacle and seek to exploit it. But staying on the Titanic in an iceberg zone also carries risks. A Brexit vote opens the way for the rest of Europe and Russia alike to look hard at first principles and adjust accordingly. Several new smaller, lighter, more manoeuvrable ships sailing along nicely together, instead of one massive sluggish vessel that’s taking on water?

Tuesday, 22 March 2016

A spot on comment on a sad day by the Telegraph´s Europe Editor Peter Foster:

Downing Street had hoped to make security a key plank of the campaign to remain in the EU, but on days like today, the very phrase “European security” sounds like a bad joke. Mr Cameron wants to argue that we need to remain part of European agencies like Europol and Eurojust precisely to prevent terrorist atrocities in Britain, but in the rough and tumble of the campaign that counter-intuitive argument will be hard to make. Inevitably, attacks such as this – striking at the very capital of the European project – risks deepening the urge among some British voters to retreat behind our borders, throwing up the “Brexit” sign as we go. Mr Cameron and other leaders will argue that would be a short-sighted mistake – unravelling the same Europe now under terrorist assault – but every new attack renders the argument that the EU makes us safer a little harder to make.

Monday, 21 March 2016

We have not heard so much recently about the euro crisis, but that does not mean that it has disappeared. On the contrary, it has become chronic and could turn acute anytime, as the eminent analyst, Dr. Oliver Hartwichpoints out:

The euro crisis has become chronic — but that does not mean that it cannot become acute anytime. Quite the contrary, the state of the eurozone is so bad now that even outrageous ideas for future monetary policy can no longer shock us.Last week’s ECB media conference was a case in point. When ECB President Mario Draghi was asked what he made of “helicopter money”, he did not dismiss it out of hand. Instead he effectively told journalists that the idea of just crediting people with newly created central bank money had to be watched.In central banking speak, this basically means that it is the next logical step.But it is also an admission: The ECB has exhausted all its conventional and unconventional policy options. What remains in their toolkit are those policies that are plainly untested, untried and unworkable.How bad must the state of an economy be when even zero interest and negative deposit rates do not trigger any inflation response? How bad when not even quantitative easing can revive economic activity? And indeed how bad when the very survival of the banking system depends on such trickery?Let there be no doubt about it: Europe has manoeuvred itself into a dead end. Or more to the point: the ECB has.The problem with the ECB’s policies is not so much that they may be technically illegal and certainly run counter to the spirit of the treaties under which the Bank was set up. The problem is that they entrench the eurozone’s reliance on ECB support to the point that it can no longer be withdrawn without causing widespread damage.Let’s put it this way: If the ECB decided tomorrow, next year or in 10 years’ time that now was the time to return to more normal monetary circumstances, it could no longer do so. That is because it has already administered so much of its monetary medicines that withdrawal symptoms could well kill the patient.